Suddenly I see
by Via Call
Summary: Amelia is an orphan mutant from Brooklyn who gets on the wrong subway. She ends up at Xaviers School for the gifted, living her dream life.But even in the lightest day, darkness always threathens in the horizon...Cartoonwise,traditional couples. T for now
1. The Orphan

Seriously! I read through this, and I cant believe all the awful spelling in the first chapter. I swear, once I have some spare time on my hands, I'm going to go through the entire story more thoroughly and correct all the faults.

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This is my first ever X-Men fanfic, so bear with me! I mainly go by the movies and the cartoons, but I fell in love with the Gambit/Rogue and Wolverine/Storm pairings, so thats in here too. There's a lot of OC's and this is pre-Phoenix, just an FYI. And I don't do accents, but we all know how they sound like. Anyway, I have four chapters ready, so they too will be up shortly, I just have to go through them. I don't have a Beta, so excuse my faults!

Read&Review!

-Via

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Chapter one: The runaway

That night it was a particularly cold march night in New York. The orphanage where I lived had yet again lost the gas, and everyone was freezing. But no matter how cold it was, I had to leave the safe sanctuary of the townhouse that had been my home for the 16 years of my life. I was alone in the big room where we slept, I had all my possessions in a worn down shoulder bag, and jumped out the second floor window, into the tree right outside the window. I slid down the tree trunk, and I was out. I was free. But it was not for my own sake I was leaving. I'd read about mutants in the paper, about how bad and dangerous they were. But they couldn't all be bad, right? I had to believe that. I ran to the end of the street and down to the closest subway station. Thanks to Shaun, I knew how to sneak on without being caught. I didn't have enough money to afford both subway and bus. I smiled as I remembered the first few times he tried to teach me; I got busted every time. I checked the rout chart and saw that the subway to the main bus station was set to come any minute. I sat down on a bench and waited, while I watched men and women with suitcases and fancy suits apologize to their loved ones over the phone, and telling them that were home soon. I felt my smile from earlier falter, and I stared down at my fingers instead. The cut off knitted gloves I wore didn't help much with the cold, but it helped enough so I didn't freeze my fingers off. My finger staring was interrupted when the subway made its noisy appearance, and stopped with a screech. I grabbed my bag and walked over to the cart, making sure I was standing next to someone who could pass as my mother or sister. The women I chose was a bit taller then me, and in her early twenties. She had dark auburn hair and a slender figure. She wore jeans and a turtleneck sweater and she had a pair of dark gloves on. The only jewelry she was wearing was a diamond ring on a chain around her neck. But what I noticed most was the white bangs that framed her face. 'How odd, who would want white hair?' I thought. I stood behind her in my handed down dark jeans, worn out converse, a simple white t-shirt and a thick fleece jacket, with my dark reddish-brown hair in its usual style: big, soft, natural curls, cascading softly down to my lower back. As I walked into the cart behind the woman with the white bangs, I suddenly noticed a musky, woodsy smell. A smell that didn't belong in an underground subway station. I saw the woman had noticed it too; she wrinkled her nose and a frown appeared on her forehead as she took a seat, and I stationed myself next to her. Almost all the other seats were taken, one of them by a woman with a laptop, and next to her sat, whom I assumed to be her daughter, with a sleepy expression. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head in an attempt of staying awake, but all to no use. After ten seconds, the little girl with piglets was asleep, her hands clutching a small teddy bear.

I could not help but smile at the sight, but I noticed that the auburn haired woman had a sad, longing expression. 'Maybe she lost a child or something' I thought to myself as the train closed the doors with a sigh and started moving towards Manhattan. I picked my favorite book out of my bag and opened it where my bookmark lay. I also took the Ipod I had gotten a job at the local garage to pay for, and put on Goo Goo Doll's Iris. I felt melancholic, and that song had so many memories attached to it. I fought back the tear that tried to fall from my eyes, and concentrated on my book instead. I heard the door to the cabin open, close through the drum solo, and looked up. What I saw was not even remotely close to what I would have expected.


	2. The Rogue

I told you I'd update quickly! I'm finished through chapter five, so they'll be up shortly too. PS: I'm not that good at fillers, so the action comes quite oftenly throughout my story. I'm not completely sure where I'm taking this either, so ideas are always welcome!

-Via

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Chapter 2: The Rogue

A man that looked insanely like a lion walked in, growling, in his tiered up leather cloak and long, golden and filthy hair hanging down his shoulders and onto his bare muscular chest. Hadn't it been for the fact that he was dirty and snarling, he could have been considered attractive. His jet-black eyes roamed the cart before stopping on the woman with the white bangs. She tried to duck her face down into her black turtleneck, to somewhat hide her face, but she couldn't hide the white streams of hair that looked like her most personal trait.

The lion-man took two long strides and as he grabbed a hold on the auburn haired women's arm, he pushed me off my seat, and I landed hard on the floor. The pain that shot up my spine fired up my rage and I got back up of the floor, anger sprayed across my face.

The auburn-haired woman had taken her glove of and was trying to press her palm to the lion-man's skin, but every time she got close, the lion-man forced her hand away from him. He was pretty distracted by that, so I did what I had done in the orphanage yesterday. I snapped.

I felt the energy flowing into me from all the powersorces in the cabin. This time though, I managed to pinpoint what the energy was coming from. There were 15 cell phones, 10 laptops, several electronic watches and the subway itself. I let myself become a part of it; I let it flow through my body.

My concentration was broken when the auburn-haired woman was thrown at me, and knocked me against the metal door of the cabin. As her hand touched mine, I felt my life force and energy become sucked out of me, but what I lost was quickly replaced with new from the electrical devices around me. The auburn haired woman took her hand away from my skin and looked at me wide-eyed. However, before we could do anything else, the lion-man grabbed a hold of her shoulders and growled at her.

-"Don't try to drain me, you know that will take a bit more power then that", he said with a hoarse and dry voice.

-"Well, then don't try to kidnap me, Sabretooth", she sneered his name with a southern accent, and glared at him.

-"I do as I please," he glared back at her, and tried to tie her hands with a piece of rope. The surrounding crowd had stopped screaming, and had run out into the next cart. The only three people left were Sabretooth, the auburn haired woman Rogue, and I.

I got up from the floor once again, and charged the energy I had collected. I gathered it in my hands, and sent it towards the lion-man's back. The second the electricity hit him, he let go of the woman, and started writhing and screaming in pain. I just stood there, stunned at my own handy work.

The woman, Rogue, stared at him for a second, before placing her stare on me. It took me a minute to notice her looking at me, but when I did, she didn't look frightened like I did. She looked like she was measuring me.

-"Did you just see that? Did you see what I did to that man...?" I stuttered the words, freaked out.

-"Yeah, I did. It was actually not half-bad. Thank you for helping me. And my name is Rogue, by the way", the woman said in her southern drawl, extending a glove-clothed hand.

-"Amelia," I said, shaking her hand.

-"Are you a mutant?" I asked hopefully, but slightly surprised by my own unsubtle.

-"Yeah, I am. And so is he", Rogue replied, pointing to the heap of hair and leather, still tremoring from the 10.000wolt shock he just received.

-"I think I am too," I said. I heard my own voice crack, and I knew she had too.

Rogue looked at my bag and the way I was dressed and frowned.

-"From the display of powers you just showed, I would say yes. And from the way you look, I'm guessing that your parents saw you using your powers, and they either disowned you, or you ran way."

I think I looked a little fragile when I replied, but I quickly replaced that face of a young girl, with the strong face of the young woman I was.

-"No actually, my parents died right after I was born. I ran way from the orphanage I was raised in for the safety of the residents. I don't want them to get hurt just because I can't control my powers when I'm angry", I said sternly, hoping that she'd just accept the truth, and not dig any deeper. I wasn't ready to share anything else with a complete stranger.

-"You've got guts, good. You'll need that if you're going to survive out here. Where are you going, anyway? You seem like the kind of girl that doesn't just do things without a plan." Rogue sat down on one of the seats, and pushed her bangs away from her face.

-"I'm going to Xavier's school for gifted youngsters," I said, and fished out a pamphlet from my bag. "It says here that if you've got some gifts you don't really understand, that you're welcome there", I continued and sighed. "I guess that's 'uptown-talk' for mutant school." I sat down on the seat opposite hers and put my book and Ipod back into my bag

-"Good choice, Professor X will help you. And I bet Logan is ready for some new meat," she said and laughed. I frowned and looked at her.

-"You've been at that place before?" I asked.

-"Sugah, I live and work there."


	3. Where to?

I'm writing at least one chapter everyday, so expect them to come with short intervals. I'm working on chapter 8 at this moment, and as always ideas or wishes are always wanted and welcome. Constructive crtisism is also something I wish for, so please, leave a review. And I know this is a short chapter, but I try to keep my chapters around the same lenght, but sometimes it doesn't really work out. And thanks to Chasesgirl2, I know that at least one person is reading my story!

Read&Review!

-Via

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Chapter 3: Where to?

-"So Amelia, I guess you'll be riding with me then. Unless you had a different plan of traveling?" Rogue said after about ten minutes of pointless talk.

-"Umm, I guess. If it's okay with you," I rushed out the last part, I didn't want her to feel committed to do anything for me.

-"Of course it's okay, I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't an offer", she answered and smiled at me.

Somehow, she made me feel safer and more comfortable then I had in the past week. The fact that I didn't _**have**_ to hide anything from her, made me feel secure. It was a good feeling.

After the crowd had been scared out of the cart twenty minutes earlier, they hadn't returned. 'The lion-man, Sabretooth, must've scared them good,' I thought, and laughed inwardly at the sight of the huge man, still twitching slightly in his fingers, on the floor. 'I did that', I said triumphantly to the invisible crowd inside my head.

When I'd knocked Sabretooth out, I sent what was left of the energy, or electricity, I had borrowed to it's respective owners. It wasn't a conscious decision, it just happened. But I was glad it did, having that many bolts of electricity inside, sure made you energetic. I felt like jumping around and running ten kilometers.

15 minutes later, Rogue told me that we were getting off at the next stop, and then drive the rest of the way to the school.

When the sub made a sound stop, I stood up and put my shoulder bag back on. Rogue grabbed her black leather purse, and we stepped out on the platform. Rogue took up her phone from her bag, and called someone. From what I heard her say, someone was coming to pick us up.

-"Great Rems, I'll see you in a few minutes," she said before she hung up with a smile.

-"I called someone to pick us up. Luckily he was already in the neighborhood, he'd heard about our little…confrontation, with Sabretooth, so he came out here to check it out," she continued as we took the escalators up to ground level.

I nodded, before asking her a seemingly stupid question.

-"Rogue, what is your power?" I looked at the older woman, hoping I hadn't been out of line with my question.

-"Well, if my skin touches other people's skin, I absorb their energy-their life force, and their memories. And if I have contact for more then a second, I can kill them," Rogue answered, that somewhat sad expression from earlier reappearing.

-"But you touched me for at least five seconds earlier, and I didn't even lose my conscience!" I said, frowning.

-"We'll ask the professor about that later," she answered, a smile replacing her previous sad face as a car pulled over to the street and honked.

She walked over to it and motioned for me to get into the backseat. I did, and she sat down in the front seat and closed the door.

-"Where to, Cherie?" the man in the drivers seat asked Rogue in a Cajun accent. She just laughed, and he started driving.

-"And who might this be, Roguey? I think you forgot to introduce Remy to this young lady in the back seat," the driver proclaimed as we drove out of New York's crowded streets.

-"Ah yes, Remy this is Amelia, Amelia this is Remy. Or Gambit, he mainly goes by that," Rogue said.

-"Um, nice to meet you Gambit", I said, and waved my hand once in the back mirror as a greeting.

-"Gambit thinks it's nice to meet you too, Amelia", he replied and smiled back at me.


	4. Xaviers school for gifted youngsters

Chapter 4: Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

I felt my jaw drop when I saw the huge beautiful building. There was a fountain in front of it, with the shape of an angel. Gambit drove in front of the entrance, and stopped. Rogue opened her door before Gambit had both of his feet outside of the car, and she opened mine.

-"Cherie, Gambit was going to be a gentleman here, and open the car for you", he said in his Cajun accent.

-"Sugah, I'm perfectly able to open my own door, thank you very much," she replied in her own southern drawl and smiled at him. He just shook his head and muttered something incoherent.

Gambit drove off to park the car, and Rogue started walking towards the big white stone building. I followed her, and she opened one of the oak doors, revealing a large homely room.

It had ruby red wall-to-wall carpet, giving it all a _warm _look. I stood in the doorway like any other idiots, amazed by the whole thing. This wasn't even close to how the orphanage had been. This looked perfect; like a luxury hotel or something. Not that I would know, I'd never stepped foot inside one of those.

-"Are you all right?" Rogue asked after a minute. I snapped out of my trance-like state, and saw her frowned face. I smiled as I replied:

-"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit overwhelmed by all of this. It's a lot different from the orphanage," I laughed a little at the comparison.

-"I was first time I saw this place too, but I came from a "normal", home." I didn't get her air quotation marks, but I figured I'd understand it later.

-"Rogue, who's your friend?" a tall, muscular man in jeans and a white wife beater appeared at the top of the giant staircase that occupied the furthest part of the oval room.

-"Logan, this is Amelia," Rogue said, and motioned towards me with her hand. I smiled and gave him a slight wave and "Hi", before a man in a wheel chair followed by a redhead came out from the left side of the stairwell. Logan switched a few words with the red head, before going back up the stairs

The man in the wheelchair was bold and looked old, but he smiled when he saw us.

-"Rogue, I see you brought your friend from the underground station with you," the old man said and came closer.

-"Hello, and welcome to the school. My name is Charles Xavier, or Professor Xavier", he continued and smiled at me.

-"I'm Amelia Andromeda Hale, Professor Xavier. I was hoping there would be a spot open here for me," I answered, fingering with my gloves again.

-"There is always room for those who need it here Amelia. If you would just follow Jean, she will show you too a room," he replied and smiled warmly at me.

-"Jean, will you…" he turned to the red haired woman and talked to her.

I didn't pay attention; my focus was disrupted by the big blue beast in human clothes with a writing board in his hands, that came down the stairs. I felt my jaw unconsciously open yet again, as I saw the animal move towards us.

-"Professor, I found some rather interesting new variables in the DNA-sample you brought me," he said in perfect English, and showed the Professor his writing board.

-"Yes Hank, I see. We'll talk about this later," he said, and the beast, Hank, nodded and walked back up the stairs, scratching the back of his head.

It was only when Rogue waived her hand in front of my face and called my name a few times that I snapped out of my shocked trance.

-"Whoa-what?" I asked her and shook my head, trying to clear it.

-"Hank has that kind of affect the first time you see him, but you get used to it," the red head named Jean said kindly and smiled at me.

-"Yes, now, Jean if you would take Amelia to her room, I wish to speak a few words with Rogue," Professor Xavier said and Jean nodded in reply.

-"And Amelia, when you wake up tomorrow, I would like you to come to my office so we can sort a few things out, I'm sure someone will show you the way," he continued, and smiled at me. I nodded, and waved at Rogue and Gambit who had just appeared behind Rogue.

-"Come on, just follow me," Jean said and walked up the staircase. I followed behind her, admiring the artwork on the walls, and trying to memorize the hallways she took me through.

-"Jean, it's almost 3am, why are you up so late? Or so early?" I asked her; curious to why she and the others weren't sleeping.

-

"The Professor got an emergency call from Rogue when you two were fighting Sabretooth tooth on the subway, and the same call woke me up. Hank is very interested with his new project, so sleep isn't a priority anymore. And Logan…well, Logan is just cautious, or…suspicious, if you will. As soon as he heard Gambit's car pull over outside of the mansion and heard three sets of steps instead of two, he came down to investigate," Jean answered as she stopped outside of a wooden door, just like all the other doors down the hall.

She opened the door for me and turned on the lights.

-"I hope you'll like it here, I'll see you in the morning", Jean said with a yawn and bid me goodnight before she closed the door behind me, and walking back to her own room.

The room was simple. Nothing flashy or over-the top. I liked it. The walls where a simple white, with a built in closet in the wall by the door. There was a big window with a sitting ring with pillows on the opposite wall, and a simple, surprisingly enough, queen sized bed. On the wall facing the bed, there was an old fashioned dressing table, and a full figure mirror beside it. All in all, a very comfortable room, much better then the ones at the orphanage.

I put down my bag on the floor, and lay down on the bed. I kicked my shoes off and took my gloves and jacket off, before succumbing into the most peaceful sleep I'd had in years.


	5. First day of a new life

Out of respect for Courtney's life, I uploaded this just before my acting class in 20 minutes. This is pretty much a filler, so not much action here, BUT atleast it's something, right? And if I am in a specially good mood later tonight, maybe I'll upload another one? And FYI, I do not have a beta, so I'm sorry for possible spelling errors and such.

R&R!

-Via

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Chapter 5: First day of a new life

I awoke early the next morning to the sound of laughter and running in the hallways. At one point I could hear I beautiful voice along with the one of Logan yell at the students for making so much noise, and telling them to get ready for practice in the Danger Room.

I yawned and looked at the clock on the night table. It read 7:45am. I stood up and changed out of my white t-shirt to a "The All-American Rejects" band Tee a woman from the social department had given me after she found out it was my favorite band. I had refused to accept it, but she said she already had two at home, because apparently they were her favorite band too.

I put my shoes back on, grabbed a brush from the old-fashioned dresser and brushed my hair. I put my fingerless gloves and converse on, and stuck my head out of the room to make sure I wouldn't get mauled down by a mob of running students. When I was sure I was alone, I stepped out and closed the door behind me. I took a deep breath, and walked down towards the entrée. Then suddenly out of no-where, a guy appeared in a cloud of smoke right in front of me.

-"Oh, you must be the new girl," the boy said with a German accent.

-"Uh, I guess," I answered.

-"Vell, I am Kurt, also called Nightcrawler," he said and reached out a hand in greeting. I took it and smiled.

-"I'm Amelia, just Amelia. For now at least, I don't have a fancy nickname," I laughed, and he joined in.

-"I'm supposed to meet at Professor Xavier's office, but I have no idea where it is," I said, before adding a quick "Can you show me". Kurt smiled and reached out for my hand.

-"Better, I can take you," he said and grinned, as I held his hand. Two seconds later I felt myself lift off of the floor and a slight tickling in my entire body, before I again felt firm ground under my feet. I wobbled slightly, but Kurt held my shoulders so I didn't fall over.

-"Are you okay?" he asked, worry clear in his voice. I held a hand to the side of my face, and replied:

-"Yeah, I'm fine. What the hell did you do to me?!" I demanded, and looked at him.

-"I took you to the Professor's office," he said and turned me around so I could see a big oak door with a metal plate sign reading: Professor Xavier. It took me a second to figure out what'd happened but when I did I hit myself in the head

-"You're a teleporter?" I said, still a bit wow-ed. It was so painfully obvious. Why didn't I get it when he first appeared in front of my face?

-"Yes I am," he said proudly, and teleported to the other side of the room and back, just to prove it. I smiled at his enthusiasm and knocked on the door.

'I've been here the total of five hours, and I already have a new friend,' I thought to myself. I heard a gentle "come in Amelia" from inside the door and said goodbye to Kurt, who replied with a "see you later," before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke again.

I entered the room, and saw the professor sitting behind a large desk with a welcoming smile on his face.

-"I see you met Kurt," he said and put the papers he was holding in his hands, down on the desk.

-"He is another human who possesses the X-gene like you. All students here have either been sent here by their parents or guardians, or they ran away, like you. I think you'll find several people here, who has been through what you have," he said kindly and motioned for me to come and see through one of the huge windows behind him.

I saw several students run around in a large maze, filled with different dangerous objects which they had to disarm to be able to pass.

-"Here we offer mutants a position as students, a chance to learn to control their abilities, to live with them as any other human without the X-gene does," the professor told me. I nodded and watched with amazement as a girl sent shockwaves through the air and smashed one of the guns.

-"But professor, I don't have any money to pay for anything! I can't even afford a single sock, no way I'll be able to pay to attend this school," I said, no way I would ever afford to go to this school, I had maybe a three dollars which I had planned on using on the bus yesterday.

-"Amelia, there are many here like you, that come from homes without much money, or that comes straight of the street, but that's what's so great about this school. Most parents that are able to, give a donation, but that is voluntary. You can attend this school without having to pay for anything," the professor answered. I felt my jaw drop for the third time. 'Things are never free, are they?,' I asked myself.

-"Yes, sometimes things are free," the professor said with a smile. 'Great, a telepath,' I thought.

-"Yes, Jean and I are both telepaths. That's why you never saw Rogue make that call Jean said had woken us up. It was a mental call. Rogue screamed and woke us up," he said and laughed a little, I couldn't help but smile.

-"So Amelia, I know you want to explore this place a bit more, and since Rogue and Kurt are both in classes for the next few hours, would you mind going on your own?" professor Xavier asked.

-"No, that's fine," I replied.

-"And you will start school on monday with the others, you'll find your schedule in your room before dinner. And all the older students have training with one of our older mutants, or X-Men, as they are so fondly named. I'm sure Rogue or Kurt or any of the other students will be more then happy to show you how it works around here," he continued and smiled.

-"And finances are no longer a problem. I am sure you feel like some new clothes etcetera, so you will also find a credit card in your room along with a list of supplies you will need for school," he said. I nodded and smiled.

-"Thank you so much professor," I said before I opened the door and got out of his office.

'Oh my god!' I thought, 'This is….just….fantastic!' I felt giddy and couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I walked back to my room .I checked the clock, which surprisingly said 11am. 'I didn't even notice how long I was with the professor,' I thought. I grabbed a hoodie from my bag, and put it on as I walked out again, a slight bounce in my step as I walked.

'Maybe there is hope for me, still?'

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I just had to let everyone know that my muse has really hit big time, so I write aprox. one chapter a day, so if you're especially nice, I might send you a sneak-peek?


	6. Getting to know the surroundings

A/N

I'm sick today, so I expect to be writing quite a lot today. I actually managed to write three chapters last night, but I still have to read them through and edit them. Ugh. Anway, I'm done through chapter 14 (yay), but I'm really in need of a beta. Any suggestions? Anyone who want's to?

R&R

-Via

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Chapter 6: Getting to know the surroundings

I walked down the staircase after I'd found out that all there was on the upper levels were the medical wing, bedrooms, showers, and bathrooms. And a large closed door. I didn't know what they had behind those doors. 'It must be large, it's an entire wing,' I thought

I stood in front of the giant stairwell with a dilemma as old as time. Which way, left or right? I stood there with my hand on my hip for maybe a minute, before a giant of a man walked out from the left side. He was reading a book and didn't seem to notice me, until he almost tripped in something and I caught his torso on reflex.

'What the hell?! Since when was I this strong?' The man must have thought the same, because we shared the same shocked expression.

As soon as we both had gathered our thoughts, we disentangled ourselves and smiled.

-"I am Piotr, but my friends call me Peter, or Colossus," the giant muscled man said with a heavy Russian accent, and reached out his right hand to shake.

-"I'm Amelia," I said smiling and took his hand.

-"I am guessing your mutation is strength?" he asked.

-"No, it's not actually. I'm not quite sure yet, I'm still learning. I thought I was just able to send energy shocks I gather from electric articles, but apparently I can use that energy as a physical weapon or strength too," I said and scratched the back of my head.

-"What's yours Peter?" I inquired with a smile and a laugh

-"Let me show you," he said with his Russian accent. I was alarmed by the words he used, they were the exact same that Kurt had used before he sent us on that crazy ride through the mansion. I raised my hands and asked:

"You're not going to teleport me or mess around in my head, are you?". He laughed and put down his book on the floor.

-"No, relax. Just watch," he said, still laughing a bit. I looked at him still a bit skeptic, but when his skin got covered with iron, like a body shaped armor, I just stared at him.

-"That is so cool," was all I could say. He laughed and changed back into his normal persona.

-"It is very practical," he said and picked up his book again.

-"I should go, I have Danger Room with Wolverine now," he announced.

-"I guess I'll see you later Amelia," Peter said, and walked up the stairs.

-"Bye Peter, see you later," I answered and waved as he turned around, still walking up the stairs, and gave me a short wave.

'Hmm….I say we go left,' I decided in my head, and walked towards the left hallway by the staircase. I found a large cafeteria, a few offices, a large room with a stage, and what I'd been looking for all morning: a kitchen. I smiled and entered the large room.

It was light, and the stoves, ovens and refrigerator the size of a small elephant, was all in brushed steel. I was still alone, it was only 12am. I opened the cabinets and found a glass and a plate, a slice of bread, some cheese and some orange juice to drink.

I hadn't eaten in a while, and I felt the hunger. But what was strange, was that I didn't feel tired at all. 'Maybe because I was draining the whole house of power?' I thought to myself and chuckled lightly. I looked at the clock, and calculated how long it would be before Rogue, Kurt and all my other new school mates came home.

-"…it's twelve now, so they should be back at three, so that means three more hours of solitude," I muttered to myself, and drained what was left in my glass.

-"Solitude? No, Gambit does not think that, little Amelia," a familiar Cajun said from his leaning form in the door frame.

-"Hi Gambit," I said as I cleaned up my dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

-"Shouldn't you be teaching someone, or be at school or something?" I asked him as we sat down on the stools by the kitchen island, the place in the mansion that was quickly becoming my favorite part of the mansion.

-"Non, Gambit was never a guy meant for school. Gambit would be in his second year of college if he was," he answered as he shuffled his cards. He was wearing sunglasses inside, and that confused me a bit. It had been dark and our meeting swift last night, but I hadn't noticed anything strange about him. He was wearing a hat though, so I never looked at his face really. It was always partially in the shadows.

-"Gambit, what is it with the sunglasses indoors?" I asked him, a bit jokingly, but honestly interested. 'Maybe he has some eye condition, or his mutation has something to do with his eyes?' I thought to myself.

-"Well, Gambit has very…unusual eyes, and some find them a bit frightening," he explained with a grin as he articulated with his hand.

-"Can I see?" I pressed, I was curious by nature.

-"Sure, little Amelia. But Gambit warns you, they might scare you," he joked and took of his sunglasses.

And he was right, the ruby and black colors of his eyes could've scared me, hadn't it been for the fact that I'd expected worse, and that I for some reason trusted him. 'If you get used to them, I bet you'll find them beautiful,' I mused.

Gambit looked at me, seemingly expecting me to scream or at least let out some sort of surprised sound. But I just smiled and laughed at his expression.

-"What? You expected me to run away yelling 'monster', or something? You ain't scaring a Brooklyn girl that easily, my friend," I said and laughed.

-"Amelia, you are wounding Gambit's pride. He is counting on them to scare away all the real monsters under the kids'beds," he joked and laughed with me.


	7. First meeting

I am so sorry for the dealy, it's been a crazy few weeks and I forgot about this completely. And with me having chapters through chapter 16 ready, it's quite unbelievable that I haven't posted this allready... This is pretty much a filler, but there is some important things in here too, so no skimming of the top here! As always:

R&R!

-Via

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Chapter 7: First meeting

Gambit and I sat there in the kitchen, joking and laughing, exchanging stories and experiences, for the next hour, until I found out I wanted to see the garden. Gambit told me it was a really bad idea to go now, but he would make sure I got to see it tomorrow morning. I was sick and tired of sitting in the kitchen, so I excused myself to my room.

I walked up the stairs and to my room. I opened the door and closed it behind me, kicking of my shoes in the process. Professor Xavier had said something about a fresh set of clothes in my closet when he came into the kitchen earlier, so I decided to see what I had.

I found a marine blue cotton shorts with a matching tank top. I quickly changed, and decided I wanted to check out the gym facilities. There where also a set of running shoes and soccer socks, which I also put on. 'Much more comfy to exercise in then old converse,' I chuckled to myself.

I walked out of my room, closing the door as always, and headed for the east wing, and the gym. It took me about five minutes from my room to the big room with all the training equipment.

It took me the total of three seconds to find what I was looking for: a punching bag and a set of boxing gloves. I grinned as I approached the gloves, and put them on.

I circled the bag a few times before I freed the beast inside.

I don't know how long I played kickboxing with the poor punching bag, but I didn't get tired. It wasn't until I felt my stomach growl, that I packed up the stuff again, and ventured back to my room. It was still pretty quiet, so I decided to take a shower before everyone got home. I found a towel in my closet, and walked to the showers.

I undressed quickly, and put on the hot water. As it hit my skin, I felt like all my stress and worries just got washed away. I massaged some shampoo into my hair and rinsed it out before I finished with some conditioner. After all the soap was cleaned out, I turned off the water, grabbed my towel, wrapped it around myself and walked back to my room.

The first thing I did when I got to my room was look at the time. 3:45pm. That meant that the house should be filling up with students right about now. I quickly dried my hair with my towel and combed through it a few times, before changing into my "The All-American Rejects"-T shirt, my jeans, a hood jacket and my fingerless gloves. I'd gotten my clothes from Goodwill, but it was all almost unused. 'People throw away perfectly good clothes, why on earth?' I asked myself as I slipped my tired set of converse on.

I took a deep breath before I went out of my room, and towards the entrance where all the noise came from. I walked down the staircase and saw all the students had raincoats on, and several where wet to the bone.

I saw Kurt shake his hair dry right in Rogue's face, who yelled at him before they both started laughing. I saw Jean whom I remembered from last night, kissing an unknown brunette man, and several other small groups of people standing together chatting. A few guys were running around, one of them held something in his hand while another one chased him. It was obvious that they had all just gotten back, since the only place with muddy footprints was in here. I just stood there at the end of the staircase like any other idiot, watching them all.

Then a guy who looked native American left his group of friends and approached me. He had his backpack hanging from his left shoulder and he smiled as he came closer, his tanned skin making his teeth look even whiter. His short black hair had raindrops that looked like diamonds in it.

I stood in front of the staircase, looking at the guy who apparently decided to act nice to the new girl.

As he came to a stop in front of me, he raised his right hand and presented himself.

-"Hi, I'm Caleb," he said as I took his hand.

-"Amelia," I said and smiled back at him, before letting his hand go.

-"I haven't seen you around before, did you come earlier today?" he asked me.

-"No, actually I came late last night. Rogue and I met on the subway," I answered and chuckled at my own words.

-"No way, you're the one that knocked out Sabretooth?" he looked at me, his face a mix of shock and amazement.

-"That big blond smelly guy? Umm, yeah I did," I replied rubbing my arm, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious.

-"That is unbelievable, you don't look like you'd be able to do that," he said, and raised his eyebrow and smiled as he looked down at me.

He was a bit taller then me, my chin just reached his shoulder. As I looked at him closer, I saw that he was almost as muscular as Peter, but not quite. Then I looked at myself; I was slender yet curved by nature, making me look pretty girlish. But at the same time I had almost invisible, but still strong, lean muscles hiding beneath my slight tan skin.

I understood what he meant by that; I didn't look like I'd be able to knock out a guy twice my size. I had to laugh a little at his remark.

-"I guess I'm stronger then I look," I answered and laughed, and he joined in.

-"Allright everyone! Take of your shoes and coats and rinse them out before you go and get ready for dinner," an African American white haired woman in her mid twenties said with authority in her voice. Caleb raised his shoulders and let out a sigh and a chuckle, before saying:

-"I have to go get this cleaned up," he said, and pointed to his muddy shoes, and laughed. I nodded and laughed with him.

-"I guess I'll see you at dinner Amelia?" he asked. I smiled and replied:

-"Yeah, sure. See you then," I smiled at him. He waved as he walked outside again, to wash out the dirt in his shoes.

Just then Rogue came over; apparently she'd already cleaned up.

-"Hi Amelia, were you bored all day, with everyone at school?" she asked.

-"No actually, I didn't. After Kurt _dropped me off_ at the professor's office, I spent a few hours there. Then I decided to do some exploring, and I _bumped_ into Peter. After that I went to the kitchen and then Gambit showed up and kept me company for a while, before I went to the gym and spent the last hour there," I answered, smiling. She smiled back, and started walking up the stairs.

-"I have to go change," she said and motioned to her wet clothes.

-" A certain blue fur ball decided to make me even more soaked," she said growling jokingly. I could hear a faint "I'm sorry" from Kurt, and then a snigger. 'Wait, blue fur ball?'

-"Since when was Kurt a blue fur ball?" I inquired, last time I'd seen him, he was normal.

-"Since birth. He just uses this converter that changes his appearance to that of a normal human," Rogue replied.

And as to confirm what Rogue said, Kurt suddenly appeared in front of me, hitting his hand on some kind of clock-like device on his hand angrily as he muttered German curses under his breath. Then, as he hit the clock-thing for the tenth time, he changed into a blue furry thing with a tail and three fingers on each hand. I almost fell backwards from the shock, but I managed to keep my balance. 'When am I ever going to stop getting surprised around here?' I asked myself.

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Ps: I'm not planning on it Courtney;)


	8. That's for dinner on a Friday night

I'm sitting here, wiping my tears from watching "Bobby"* and wondering what to do next. So I figured I might as well update for the second time today. So with Foo Fighters "All my life" blasting from my speakers, I leave you with Amelia's first meal at her new home and a glance at her secretive past.

R&R!

-Via

((* Bobby is a movie based on the last few days of senator Robert Kennedy. It's made from about ten different pov's, all the persons involved with R.K.'s death on some way. Emilio Estevez wrote and directed this movie, and he also used old clips of R.K, so there is no actor portraying him. They've used old tapes of his speaches during the last five minutes, and that's what makes me cry. What he said was so important to so many people, and it's just as relavant today as it was then. It's just as important now as it was then, it still stands for the same. So if you haven't seen it, I really recommend you to do so; it's going to change quite a few perspectives you have on your life, I assure you.))

Violence breeds violence - Robert Kennedy

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Chapter 8: That's for dinner on a Friday night

-"Rogue, what day is it today?" I asked her as we walked down the hall from our rooms, towards the dining room.

-"It's Friday," she said smiling.

-"Wow, how did I miss that?" I replied and chuckled.

-"You seem like you are a bit… mindless, though" Kurt joked as he walked in front of us. I laughed with him and hit him he back of his head with my palm playfully.

-"Ow! That hurt!" he complained and laughed as he rubbed his head.

-"When you play with fire, you get your fingers burnt, Kurt," Rogue said and laughed at his expression.

'I think I'm going to like it here,' I thought to myself.

As we walked, we were soon joined by Gambit, who wrapped his arm around Rogues shoulders as we ventured towards dinner.

As soon as we entered the room, Kurt and Gambit went to find us some seats, which left me and Rogue chatting on the middle of the room. There were round tables all over, and that would have given it a kind of "High school cafeteria"-look, hadn't it been for the engravings in the wooden panels on the walls, and the fact that the tables weren't plastic and metal, but wood as well. It looked very much like the rest of the mansion; it had the same antique and elegant feeling about it.

Almost all the tables where filled with students, but Kurt found seats for us with a few others. When we walked towards the table, I felt a few stares in my back

'Great. Stare at the new girl. Way to make me feel welcome,' I thought. Caleb waved at me and smiled, and I did the same as I walked past him.

At our table I saw a two faces I knew; Peter and Jean, along with two I didn't know. The girl Peter had been talking to earlier was sitting next to him, and next to Jean a guy with sunglasses sat.

-"Amelia, this is Kitty aka. Shadowcat, and this is Scott aka. Cyclops," Jean said, and at the mentioning of their name they waved and smiled.

-"Hi Kitty and Scott, I'm Amelia. It's nice to meet you," I said to them both.

I quickly found out that Kitty was the talkative type. I don't think I've heard that many "Like's" and "Totally's" in my entire life, but all over she was a nice girl. Scott was more calm, he seemed to me like a leader type of guy, one that always keeps his cool.

The seat I had been given, situated me right across from Caleb at the table next to us. He noticed it too, and we kept sending each other glances. At one point I rolled my eyes so only he could see in the middle of one of Kitty's ramblings, and he almost sent the gulf of water he was swallowing out over all of his friends. I almost laughed out loud when I saw that, but I managed to choke it into a hushed giggle.

-"Hey Kitty, I have to go shopping tomorrow, do you recommend anywhere special?" I asked her. Her whole face lit up when she answered:

-"Yes, like a ton of places! There is this small…" then she listed up at least fifty shops that I knew I'd never remember. This seemed to hit Kitty too, so she just offered to come with me, which I gladly accepted.

For dinner we got lasagna and garlic bread. Kurt ate enough for two, but apparently that was usual for him.

After dinner, the afro-American woman with white hair came over, and asked me to come with her. I excused myself from the table and smiled at Caleb, who strangely enough had a frown on his face, before following her. She took me to the professor's office, and led me in.

-"Thank you Storm," professor Xavier said. He motioned for me to sit down in the chair in front of him, and the woman named Storm stood by his side with a smile on her face.

-"Amelia, relax, you haven't done anything wrong. I asked Storm to bring you here, because I wanted to ask you something," the professor said calmly. I nodded, silently asking him to continue.

-"We wish to test your abilities, so we will be able to train you better. This test involves a simulation in the Danger Room, where we you will have to use your powers to solve different tasks. It's not dangerous in any way, you'll be completely safe," Xavier continued. I thought about it for a second before replying:

"Yes, sure. Whatever you think is best." Storm smiled reassuringly to me, and the professor smiled.

"On Monday then, after school?" he asked me. I nodded, and got out of the chair.

"Great, I will see you on Monday," Xavier said and turned to Storm. I smiled and walked out of the room.

The second I'd closed the door, I felt a presence around me. I braced myself for someone to attack, drawing energy from all around me, but the attack never came.

Instead I saw Kitty and Kurt hanging from a chandelier above me. Kurt was holding them there with his tail, and Kitty's head just came back out of the wall with a disappointed expression. I heard her say to Kurt: "They only asked her for a Danger Room session".

The whole thing was quite coordinated, so my guess was that they did this quite often. I chuckled, 'they are curious around here,' I thought. Kurt almost fell down from the chandelier when he heard me, and this just made me laugh. Kitty saw it too, and she laughed with me. She knew I was standing there since she'd seen me walk out of the room, but Kurt hadn't.

Kurt teleported them down, and we walked towards a living room area, apparently that was where the others where.

Chapter 9: Two o'clock rock

I walked over to Jean and Scott, and talked to them for a while. When it turned eleven o'clock, I decided to turn in. I told them goodnight and walked back to my room. I undressed and jumped into bed, after brushing my teeth and combing my hair, before falling asleep almost instantly.

I woke up with a painful headache. I knew it wasn't morning yet, when I looked out the window it was still dark and a quick glance at the watch confirmed it. 2:12 Am. I put on an over sized t-shirt I'd nicked from a friend back in Brooklyn, and walked down towards the kitchen. My hair was hanging loose around my shoulders, my large curls slightly bouncing with each step I took.

I entered the kitchen and opened the fridge, grabbing a mug of cold water. I took a glass from the cabinet left of the fridge and closed it. I poured some water in my glass, and almost choked on it when I turned around and saw Caleb sitting there by the kitchen island, with a smirk on his face. I swallowed and put my glass down on the counter.

-"I didn't scare you, did I?" he asked jokingly.

-"No, not at all. I usually choke on my water when I see people," I replied with mock sincerity. He chuckled and motioned for me to sit down. I grabbed my glass and sat down across from him.

-"What brings you to the kitchen this early? Or late?" Caleb asked me as he ate a cookie from the plate on the island.

-"I had a headache and couldn't sleep. What about you?" I asked and took a cookie.

-"Kitty sleepwalked and woke me up. She kept asking me where the alligator was, so I just let her go about her business and walked down here instead," Caleb replied and laughed.

I laughed with him, 'a girl who walks through walls has a sleepwalking problem. Classic,' I thought to myself.

-"Well, she better be fit and ready for shopping tomorrow," I said and munched on my cookie.

-"Shopping with Kitty? Good luck," Caleb said, and laughed.

-"It can't be that bad. Besides, I think I can manage myself," I replied. Caleb just smiled and chuckled. We talked for what felt like hours and I felt comfortable in Caleb's company. He always had a smile around his lips and I could feel my heart miss a beat every time we looked each other in the eyes. I caught him looking at me quite a few times, but I didn't comment it. I just enjoyed it.

I wasn't really used to getting this kind of attention from guys, it felt a bit weird, but a good weird.

The only boyfriend I'd ever had was a guy named Connor. We used to be best friends growing up, and when we turned 14 he asked me out. He was very sweet and kind and I really liked him. But a few months ago I saw him screwing the girl next door; I dumped him on the spot. We'd been on and off the last two years, but that day was supposed to be our new three month anniversary. That made the betrayal even worse.

What I found out two days after I broke up with him was that he wasn't the gentle nice boy I'd once known. Now he was an upset 16 year old violent and mean guy. He showed up at the orphanage, demanding to speak to me. I went outside to him, and he started begging for forgiveness. I refused to accept his apologies, and that just made him even angrier. He'd grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard, like he wanted to beat his apology into me. That was the first time I used my powers. When Connor got more violent and had pushed me hard up against the brick wall in the alley, he pinned my wrists above my head and he'd started kissing me. It felt wrong and disgusting, and most of all painful. His grip on my hands was hard and he tightened it as I tried to squirm and kick myself out of his grasp. He squeezed his hand even tighter around my wrists, and I heard a sickening snap and a jolt of pain as my left wrist fractured under his hold. He ignored it, and his mouth started attacking my neck as I panted in pain. It took me a second to feel my rage erupt from deep inside, and I sent a jolt of energy through Connors body. He managed to elbow me in my ribcase as he was sent crashing towards the big trashcans on the other side if the dark, enclosed alley we were standing in.

I was too caught up in my story to notice the tears streaming down my cheek. Caleb had stayed silent throughout my tale; he just sat there with a slightly sad and angry expression. He brought his hands up to my face and cradled it, wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

-"I'm so sorry Amelia. You didn't deserve that," he said sternly. I turned my eyes away from his face, down on my lap.

-"Who knows, maybe I did," I muttered to myself as I felt another wave of tears threatening to fall. Caleb heard what I said, but decided not to push me. He figured I'd tell him what I meant when I was ready. He just enveloped me in a tight hug, stroking my hair and my back as I let out the tears I'd held back for years. I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried onto his shoulder. He'd whisper words of comfort, trying to soothe my weeping.

All the crying left me drained of energy, and after a while I fell asleep in Caleb's hold. He took me in his arms and carried me to my room. He opened my door, still holding me, and put me on my bed. He took my shoes off and just as he wrapped my blanket around me, I whispered sleepily to him:

-"Thank you"

Caleb smiled and tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear, before whispering:

-"You're welcome". He smiled and walked out of my room, leaving me sleeping with tear streaks down my cheeks and a smile on my face.


	9. Two o'clock rock

I am so sorry for neglecting this story, but school and life and responsibilities showed their ugly face. I'm going to try to update once every two or three days, but I can't promise anything.

IMPORTANT! I have a poll up on my page, and I really need some replies to that before I can continue on the story. It's quite relevant, so hurry up and vote!

R/R!

-Via

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Chapter 9: Two o'clock rock

I walked over to Jean and Scott, and talked to them for a while. When it turned eleven o'clock, I decided to turn in. I told them goodnight and walked back to my room. I undressed and jumped into bed, after brushing my teeth and combing my hair, before falling asleep almost instantly.

I woke up with a painful headache. I knew it wasn't morning yet, when I looked out the window it was still dark and a quick glance at the watch confirmed it. 2:12 Am. I put on an over sized t-shirt I'd nicked from a friend back in Brooklyn, and walked down towards the kitchen. My hair was hanging loose around my shoulders, my large curls slightly bouncing with each step I took.

I entered the kitchen and opened the fridge, grabbing a mug of cold water. I took a glass from the cabinet left of the fridge and closed it. I poured some water in my glass, and almost choked on it when I turned around and saw Caleb sitting there by the kitchen island, with a smirk on his face. I swallowed and put my glass down on the counter.

-"I didn't scare you, did I?" he asked jokingly.

-"No, not at all. I usually choke on my water when I see people," I replied with mock sincerity. He chuckled and motioned for me to sit down. I grabbed my glass and sat down across from him.

-"What brings you to the kitchen this early? Or late?" Caleb asked me as he ate a cookie from the plate on the island.

-"I had a headache and couldn't sleep. What about you?" I asked and took a cookie.

-"Kitty sleepwalked and woke me up. She kept asking me where the alligator was, so I just let her go about her business and walked down here instead," Caleb replied and laughed.

I laughed with him, 'a girl who walks through walls has a sleepwalking problem. Classic,' I thought to myself.

-"Well, she better be fit and ready for shopping tomorrow," I said and munched on my cookie.

-"Shopping with Kitty? Good luck," Caleb said, and laughed.

-"It can't be that bad. Besides, I think I can manage myself," I replied. Caleb just smiled and chuckled. We talked for what felt like hours and I felt comfortable in Caleb's company. He always had a smile around his lips and I could feel my heart miss a beat every time we looked each other in the eyes. I caught him looking at me quite a few times, but I didn't comment it. I just enjoyed it.

I wasn't really used to getting this kind of attention from guys, it felt a bit weird, but a good weird.

The only boyfriend I'd ever had was a guy named Connor. We used to be best friends growing up, and when we turned 14 he asked me out. He was very sweet and kind and I really liked him. But a few months ago, just after my 16th birthdaym I saw him screwing the girl next door. I dumped him on the spot. We'd been on and off the last two years, but that day was supposed to be our new three month anniversary. That made the betrayal even worse.

What I found out two days after I broke up with him was that he wasn't the gentle nice boy I'd once known. Now he was an upset 16 year old violent and mean guy. He showed up at the orphanage, demanding to speak to me. I went outside to him, and he started begging for forgiveness. I refused to accept his apologies, and that just made him even angrier. He'd grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard, like he wanted to beat his apology into me. That was the first time I used my powers. When Connor got more violent and had pushed me hard up against the brick wall in the alley, he pinned my wrists above my head and he'd started kissing me. It felt wrong and disgusting, and most of all painful. His grip on my hands was hard and he tightened it as I tried to squirm and kick my way out of his grasp. He squeezed his hand even tighter around my wrists, and I heard a sickening snap and a jolt of pain as my left wrist fractured under his hold. He ignored it, and his mouth started attacking my neck as I panted and screamed in pain. It took me a second to feel my rage erupt from deep inside, and I sent a jolt of energy through Connors body. I continued to send the energy through him, and I pushed him crashing towards the big trashcans on the other side if the dark, enclosed alley we were standing in.

I was too caught up in my story to notice the tears streaming down my cheek. Caleb had stayed silent throughout my tale; he just sat there with a slightly sad and angry expression. He brought his hands up to my face and cradled it, wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

-"I'm so sorry Amelia. You didn't deserve that," he said sternly, yet gentle. I turned my eyes away from his face, down on my lap.

-"Who knows, maybe I did," I muttered to myself as I felt another wave of tears threatening to fall. Caleb heard what I said, but decided not to push me. He figured I'd tell him what I meant when I was ready. He just enveloped me in a tight hug, stroking my hair and my back as I let out the tears I'd held back for years. I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried onto his shoulder. He'd whisper words of comfort, trying to soothe my weeping.

All the crying left me drained of energy, and after a while I fell asleep in Caleb's hold. He took me in his arms and carried me to my room. He opened my door, still holding me, and put me on my bed. He took my shoes off, and just as he wrapped my blanket around me I whispered sleepily to him:

-"Thank you"

Caleb smiled and tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear, before whispering:

-"You're welcome". He smiled and walked out of my room, leaving me sleeping with tear streaks down my cheeks and a smile on my face.


	10. Grease Monkey

I know I said I'd post every other day, but its just been very hectic lately. To give you a somewhat mental picture, I have a funeral to attend tomorrow and another one on Friday, so I think that gives me a good enough excuse. Anyway, this is short, not much action, but it's getting there. I'm working on chapter 17 right now, so maybe I'll be kind and post a few more before I go to bed.

REMEMBER!: **Poll on my page! Important for the storyline here people! Help me out!**

**R&R!**

**-**Via

**

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**Chapter 10: Grease monkey **

We walked down the stairs, and saw Caleb and Kurt standing by the bottom. Kurt was now in his human form, wearing jeans and a red t-shirt. Caleb was dressed quite similar, with jeans and a black polo.

I smiled when I saw him, and just about skipped to his side. Kitty followed just a few steps behind, texting in an unbelievable speed on her cell. Caleb grinned at me, and looked a bit shocked. I was pleased, my mission was successful.

-"You look nice, Amelia," he told me, and smiled. I smiled back, and nudged his shoulder as I replied:

-"You clean up pretty good too, Caleb".

-"Yes, we all look fantastic. So, like, get your butts moving, we have a schedule to follow," Kitty said stressed and walked towards the door. Kurt went after her, and Caleb grabbed my hand and dragged me along.

It wasn't raining today, but the sky was gray and heavy with clouds. The gentle breeze gave my hair life and it tickled my face.

I couldn't help but grin like an idiot; I went from an orphanage in a shady part of Brooklyn, to wearing a designer dress and attending a school for mutants. How could I not be?

Kitty walked swiftly across the courtyard and past the fountain, towards a big garage building built in the same style as the main house.

-"Is everything so enormously extravagant around here?" I asked Caleb as we walked into the building. He chuckled, and lead me towards a sleek black Mercedes ML.

There had to be at least twenty quite new cars around me, plus one vintage red mustang. I looked around me, fascinated by all the shiny surfaces and expensive metal.

Caleb had walked off to a cabinet to find the right keys, and Kitty and Kurt was standing right next to me by the car. They were arguing about the shot-gun seat, and I almost laughed out loud of their squabble.

I studied the Mercedes and ran my fingers across the clean black paint.

-"Does this have 8 cylinders, or just five? And what about fuel injection?" I asked as Caleb returned, spinning a set of keys on his middle finger. He looked like someone just gave him five billion dollars; it looked like he'd gone into a state of shock.

He quickly regained his composure, and stared at me a bit amazed. His stare made me feel self-conscious, and I switched my weight from my right foot to my left.

-"Um…It has carbon cylinders and fuel injection, and that's about how much I know about this car in particular," he said, and scratched the back of his head. I nodded and returned my attention to the vehicle.

-"You seem to know a bit about cars," he said and moved to stand next to me. He put his left hand on the car, and leaned on it.

-"Yeah, I guess. I worked in a garage to save up some money, you know, good to have. I spent most of it on my Ipod though, so not that much went to my 'rainy day' fund," I chuckled and shook my head.

-"A garage? Really? I'd never take you for a grease monkey," he replied, and gave me that smile and that chuckle that was quickly becoming my favorite two things in the world.

-"Don't judge the book by it's cover," I said and smiled devilishly. We hadn't noticed Kurt and Kitty at all, but when Kurt appeared in a cloud of grayish -purple smoke, we jumped apart and started laughing. We'd unconsciously leaned closer to one another, wrapping us up in our own little bubble.

-"Are you coming or vhat?", Kurt asked in his German accent, "Shadowcat is driving me crrazy."

-"Nightcrawler, Kitty drives everyone crazy," Caleb shot back and rolled his eyes and grinned. He winked at me and opened the back door for me in a gentleman-ish order. I did a little curtsy and laughed before I got in. He bowed and laughed with me and closed the door.

Caleb threw the keys at a baffled Kurt, and ran to the other side of the car. He jogged to the other side of the car and opened the other back door and sat in next to me. I smiled at the seating arrangements, and shot a glance at Kitty.

She was fidgeting nervously with her fingers, her excitement practically emanating from her. Kurt started the car, hit a button on a special device on the dashboard that opened the garage and drove out.

Kurt turned the radio on, and I heard The black parade by My chemical romance boom through the speakers. I muttered the lyrics to myself and I noticed that Caleb was humming along and tapping his foot to the beat whilst he stared out of the window.

Kitty and Kurt continued their argument only seven minutes into the 30 minute drive. Caleb and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes, when Kurt and Kitty were interrupted in a squabble the apparently didn't let it go.

-"What are you guys doing today?" I asked Caleb, just to get a conversation going. It wasn't like the silence between us were uncomfortable, but after a while I started missing his warm fluent voice and most of all, his laughter.

-"Just guy-stuff I guess," he replied and grinned at me.

-"Guy-stuff?" I asked, and raised my eyebrow questioningly.

-"You know, run around town doing mischief," he said and chuckled. I laughed with him and played with a piece of my hair.

-"What about you? What are you up to today?"

-"I need some stuff for school and some clothes"

-"What grade are you starting in?"

-"Junior. I had freshman and sophomore in Brooklyn"

-"Awesome, I'm a junior too, maybe we'll have some classes together!"

I grinned and nodded, I couldn't help it.

We had once again enveloped ourselves into our own little bubble, and hadn't noticed that we were there. The thing that set us off was when Kitty finally stopped talking. Kurt had parked in a lot close to Central Park, and in front of us stood a guy our age, with brown half long hair, jeans and a simple t-shirt. He also had fingerless gloves on his hands, just like I normally did. I saw him wave before putting his hands back into his pockets and walking towards the car.

Caleb and Kurt got out and Caleb opened the door for me. He offered his hand to help me out, which I slightly confused accepted. 'It's not that big of a jump.'

I figured he was just being gentleman-ish again, and didn't think anymore of it. I smiled at Caleb, and put my purse on my shoulder. I closed the door and saw Kitty still sitting in the car.

I went over to her, opened her door and helped her out. She looked nervous to say the least.

-"Kitty, are you okay?" I asked her and squeezed her forearms gently.

-"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll totally explain later," she replied quickly and smiled at me. I nodded and we walked to the others. I caught Caleb looking at me and I winked at him.

-"Kitty, hi," the unknown man said and smiled at her. She lightened up immediately and smiled at him.

-"Hii Lance!" she said enthusiastically.

-"Lance, this is Amelia," Caleb said. Lance placed his gaze on me and smiled as he offered me his right hand. I smiled back and took it.

-"It's nice to meet you Lance"

-"It's nice to meet you too Amelia," he replied.

-"So Kitty, just call us when you two are done and we'll pick you up," Caleb continued and put his hand in his pocket.

-"Yeah, like, totally. Since I'm not 'allowed' to drive, you better come pick us up," she told him. She was obviously still a bit upset from breakfast.

-"It would be a shame for Amelia to die on her second day, so why take the risk with letting you drive?" he asked rhetorically and smiled at me. Kitty muttered something under her breath that I don't think any of us caught.


	11. Who knew?

I'm so so sorry for taking this long, but grieving and mid terms and life in general just caught up with me. I promise though, that from now on I'll do better! I promise! And I'm also so so sorry for how short this chappy is, but I'll update again today to make up for it! This is pretty much just a filler, I guess my inner girly-girl decided to make an appearence....

Anywho,

R&R!!

-Via

* * *

Chapter 11: Who knew?

After receiving a swift one arm hug from Caleb and a "bye" from Kurt and Lance, I walked with Kitty down the street towards one of her favourite shops; "New York Vintage*".

-"Even though you've never worn designer items before, you're really going to appreciate this," she gushed and opened the door into the store. It was a somewhat small space, but it was filled with racks of dresses and shelves of fine jewelry.

I gasped slightly, but composed myself quickly. Kitty headed straight towards the lady behind the register, and I started looking through one of the closest racks. I was baffled by all the fine patterns and expensive fabrics and I couldn't help but smile. I found a black lace bandage dress by Alexander McQueen and pulled it out from the rack.

I held it up for Kitty to see, who was still chatting idly with the girl behind the counter, but they both saw me and gave me two thumbs up and a grin each. I smiled back, and hung the dress on my arm so I could continue to look.

It took me the total of five seconds to find another dress I fell in love with. It was a black sequin short dress with a huge black satin bow on one shoulder from Chloe. I literally jumped and clapped my hands in joy.

A few hours and a private in-store runway show later, Kitty and I were walking arm in arm down towards Brian Atwood's shop.

We were laughing and giggling in the cold August air, slurping on a chocolate mocha coffee from Starbucks to keep warm outside.

We had found so many pieces that we wanted to keep at N.Y. Vintage that we'd arranged for it to be picked up later when we had a car with us. The girl behind the desk had willingly complied, and had our rack of clothes brought into the back room.

-"Who knew that the girl from the orphanage would, like, have AMAZING style!" Kitty said and giggled.

-"Maybe it's an extra gift?" I joked and giggled with her.

We entered the store and I smiled even wider. Kitty and I both almost ran to the closest shelf and attacked it.


	12. Just in case

Ha! I said I'd upload today! This is also pretty short, but whatever... I'll make it up to you!

R&R!

Loves,

-Via

* * *

Chapter 12: Just in case

-"Do I really need all these shoes, Kitty?" I asked her as I looked at the pile in front of me, consisting of what seemed to me to be over a hundred pairs of shoes.

-"You can never have too many shoes Amelia," she told me as she tried yet another red peep toe pump.

-"Sure, but how much is this really gonna cost? I mean, come on, I can't drive the school into ruins because of a pair of shoes!"

-"Relax Ames, it's no biggy. Like, there's plenty of money."

-"I'm trusting you on this one Kit," I said and laughed as a guy from the staff came over to us.

-"Do you need any help?" he asked politely and smiled dazzlingly at me, Kitty was bizzy with gathering her shoes.

-"Um, could you help me with these?" I asked him and pointed to the boxes of shoes. He nodded and smiled again at me as he carried them to the cash register.

I pulled out my black credit card for the second time that day, a lot more confident then the first. I had to have Kitty go first, just to make sure I wasn't getting punked.

Once again we made a deal with the staff at Steve Madden that we would come back and get it later, when we weren't walking.

After our shoe-shopping, we went to a huge mall-like building with clothes from brands like Miu Miu, Emilio Pucci, Burberry, All Saints, Stella McCartney, Chanel and Marchesa. After a few hours there, we finally hit Alexander McQueen. Ever since I'd seen all the beautiful creations at N.Y.V. I'd fallen in love with his work. I felt my eyes widen as I took in the sight in front of me.

I walked slowly into the shop, taking it all in. The first things my eyes fell upon were a pair of leather fingerless gloves and a black leather tote, which I immediately decided I wasn't leaving the store without.

The guy at the counter at Alexander McQueen quickly became one of my favorite people in the world. Christian was gay and loved it, and so did I. He had impeccable taste, and he knew mine the second he saw the items I'd fallen in love with.

-"That looks so good on you, Amelia!" he said and grinned at me. I took a swirl just for the heck of it, and almost tripped in the heels I'd been given. Apart from the black booties, I was also wearing a black dress with red roses on it.

-"All good fashionistas have a gay friend, so now you can consider yourself a fashionista in training. You would have been an official fashionista, hadn't it been for the fact that this is apparently your first shopping trip, like, ever," Christian exclaimed after two hours inside the fabulous shop. Kitty had been busy with something, leaving me in Christians putty hands. He handed me a piece of paper with his phone number, so that I could call him in any fashion or boyfriend crisis. I'd told him about Caleb, so he winked at me when he mentioned boyfriend, and I couldn't help but giggle.

-"I'll call you later, Chris!" I yelled at him as Kitty and I walked through the door with ten bags each on our hands. We didn't get all the bags from Alex McQueen, some were from All saints, Stella McCartney and Marc Jacobs among others. There where still a few items that we didn't bring with us that waited in it's respective store for us to come back later and pick up.

-"All I need now is a phone and the books for school," I told Kitty as we strolled down towards the closest bookstore.

-"Yeah, like, you totally need a phone!" she answered and steered me into the bookstore. I looked at my list and then around the shop a few times, before sighing and heading to the elderly woman behind the register.

-"Umm, excuse me madam? Can you help me with finding these books? I need them for school," I told her, my voice almost sounding desperate. I really wanted to get home and unpack.

Well, that was a lie. I wanted to get back so I could see Caleb again.


	13. A different kind of Monkey

Chapter 13: Car monkey

Seven books and a brand new cell phone later, Kitty was calling the guys.

-"Hey boys! Umm, does Lance, like, have his car? – Good, because we might need it – Relax, she's fine. – I'll, like, ride with him and Kurt, she'll go with you. – We're on 49th and 6th. – Yeah!, like, see you soon!" she closed her phone and turned to me smiling.

-"They'll be here in a few minutes. Kurt is taking Lance back to get his car, I'm like, not sure if it'll all fit in the Mercedes," Kitty said and giggled. I shook my head and looked at the bags by our feet.

-"It's amazing how much clothes we got today! I never thought I'd ever be able to even hold an Alexander McQueen in my life, and now I own more then just one!" I told her and laughed with her. It seemed like my grin was glued permanently on to my face, and I think that everyone could see that: I was genuinely happy.

Just as my thoughts started to wander through Kitty's chanting, a black Mercedes and a silver Hummer with tinted windows parked in front of us. Kurt and Lance got out of the Hummer and Caleb appeared from the Mercedes, all chuckling besides Kurt who had a beaten expression on his face. Lance looked smug and held out his hand as Kurt got his wallet out and handed Lance a twenty. Caleb walked over to me and smiled that perfect smile I liked so much.

-"Hi Amelia, how'd it go?" he looked at the heaps of bags by my feet.

-"I survived," I joked. "Actually, I had fun. It was a new experience. And Christian is so amazing," I told him enthusiastically as we put my bags in the back of his car.

-"Christian? Who's that?" he asked sceptically. I heard in his voice that there was some emotion he was trying to hide, making it impossible for me to decipher it.

-"Um, just a guy I met," I answered. I didn't mean to sound as devious and secretive as I probably did, but at that moment I didn't notice.

-"Oh," was all Caleb said, and opened the door for me. I did notice though, that his smile, -my smile, was gone.

-"We take New York Vintage, Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacobs, and you can take Brian Atwoon, Stella McCartney and the others" Kitty said and climbed into the Hummer with Lance and Kurt. Caleb chuckled and got into the Mercedes.

We drove to the stores we'd been assigned in a comfortable silence, and just as we got back into the car after exiting the last store, my stomach growled. Loudly.

-"Hungry?" Caleb asked me and smiled as he drove out in the streets of New York.

-"Yeah, a tad," I answered and chuckled.

-"Let's take you out to dinner then. You know what they say; fine people dine in late"

-"I've never heard that expression before. And you don't have to do that Caleb, honestly," I said, feeling my cheeks redden slightly.

-"Amelia, I want to," he answered and looked at me, the sincerity of his words apparent in his eyes.

I nodded and bit my lip, smiling. He smiled back at me and returned his attention to the streets.

-"Where do we want to eat?" Caleb asked me.

-"Umm….I don't know, what's good in this town?"

-"There is this little Italian restaurant down on 5th, but I'm not sure if Alessandro would leave you alone in that attire," he told me and nodded his head towards my dress with a chuckle. I contemplated this for a few seconds, before grinning at him.

-"I have an idea, just trust me" I said and started climbing to the luggage room in the car where all the clothes were.

"And no peeking!" I shouted at him, slightly serious but mostly joking. I trusted him enough not to look.

-"Sure, sure. Monkey…" he replied and shook his head with laughter


	14. Do lei so Italiano?

Allrighty, here it is! The first piece of action and violence, and a bit of fluff just for you!

Remember!

R&R!!

Loves,

-Via

* * *

Chapter 14: Do lei lo so Italiano?

I giggled with him, and found my new pair of Stella McCartney jeans, an All Saints tee and cardigan and one of my new pairs of Brian Atwood brown leather boots. I also grabbed a new brown leather purse to go with it, and was ready by the time Caleb stopped the car and walked to the back to let me out.

I slipped gracefully out of the baggage room of the black Mercedes, earning a few curious glances from bypassing New Yorkers. Caleb offered me his hand which I took, and he lead me towards a cute intimate little Italian restaurant.

Caleb let go of my hand and opened the door for me, I smiled at him and walked in. The inside had that rustic, antique look that still carried witness of greatness. I loved it.

-"Caleb! It's been a long time, no?" an elderly Italian looking woman said and gave Caleb a big hug. He chuckled and hugged her back, and I just stood behind him, watching the affectionate exchange.

-"Armando! _Svegliati_!_ Svegliati tu_ _idiota!_" she yelled in Italian, and an old Italian man emerged from what I presumed was the kitchen. He rubbed his eyes, but the second he saw Caleb, he suddenly wasn't sleepy anymore and gave Caleb a hug as well.

-"Caleb, it has been much too long!" he said with the same Italian accent as the woman. Caleb smiled at them and nodded, apologizing quickly and telling them that a lot had happened the last month. I was still standing, slightly hidden behind him, but after all the formalities were over with, the woman noticed me at once.

-"Caleb, who is this beautiful young lady, and where are your manners, boy! Aren't you going to introduce us? "

Caleb chuckled and brought me out in front of him.

-"Nana, this is Amelia, Amelia this is my grandmother Gianna," he said and I shook hands with her.

-"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said and smiled at her. She smiled warmly back and returned the gesture.

After he introduced me to Armando, a young man in his mid-twenties appeared in the kitchen doorway. He rubbed the back of his head sleepily and sipped of his coffee. He was standing there in a red T and jeans, the red of his shirt just emphasising his defined muscles and Italian heritage.

-"Hello Caleb, where've you been?" the young man asked the younger man and took another sip of his drink.

-"Oh you now, round and about," Caleb responded and they both chuckled. Once again I happened to stand so I was hidden from the view of the newcomer, but Caleb, once again pulled me in front of him, introducing me to the man.

-"Amelia, this is my cousin Alessandro," Caleb said warmly to me, holding his hands lightly on my upper arms. I shook hands with Caleb's cousin and smiled politely at him, telling him it was nice to meet him.

-"Oh no, the pleasure is all mine," Alessandro replied and kissed my hand and winked playfully at me. Since I was standing with my back leaning to his chest, I could feel a slight displeased growl erupting from Caleb. I seemed to be the only one who noticed, but Alessandro released my hand quickly and took a step back. Armando and Gianna snickered from behind us, and Alessandro quickly excused himself to the kitchen.

Once again my stomach growled and this did not go unnoticed by nana Gianna.

-"Caleb! You _**must **_have forgotten your manners, you haven't even fed the poor girl!" she said sternly at him, and she led me towards one of the tables. Caleb quickly followed and seated himself opposite me and his grandmother smiled at us.

She had grey hair and was wearing an apron over a scarlet button-up dress that went below her knees. She had brown glittering eyes, shining with love, compassion, knowledge and experience. Gianna seemed like a beautiful person and that was only my first impression of her.

-"_Mi bello_, what would you like to eat? Nana's secret spaghetti?" Gianna asked and winked at Caleb. He chuckled and looked at me.

-"What do you think Amelia? Up for some spaghetti?"

-"Yes, that would be great," I answered and smiled.

Gianna smiled at us and went to the kitchen to cook our meal. I looked at my new Bvlgari watch and to my surprise it read 7:45pm.

-"Your family seems really nice, Caleb," I said warmly and smiled at him.

-"Yeah, they are. My parents live in Washington though, and the only reason they allowed me to go to Xavier's was because a set of my grandparents lived here," he replied in the same tone I had.

-"Is Alessandro your brother or something?"

-"No no no, he's my cousin. My uncle, my mother's brother, and aunt were killed when Alessandro was younger and my parents took him in, so we are like brothers. He used to go to Xavier's too, but when he turned 19 he left and moved into the city. Or more precisely, the guestroom here," Caleb told me and chuckled.

-"Yeah, you don't look like each other that much. He looks more Italian then you do," I replied and smiled at him. He nodded and smiled back at me.

-"You know, I just met you, but it feels like I've known you for years," I commented.

-"I know! That's how I feel too. It just comes natural to be with you, there's no guard I have to keep up. I feel like I can be myself around you, you know?" he said and looked somewhat relieved for a reason unknown to me.

-"Yeah, I know," I answered and smiled at him.

After a few minutes of very comfortable silence where we just looked into each others eyes; trying to figure the other ones thoughts out, Gianna came out of the kitchen with a big bowl of spaghetti and two sets of forks and spoons.

-"_Do lei lo so Italiano_?" Gianna asked Caleb with a curious voice.

-"_No nana_," he replied and shook his head.

-"_Lei be attraente_ Caleb," Gianna smiled and put the food down on our table.

-"_Io sapere, nana_," Caleb said and looked at me, smiling.

-"Now, here is your spaghetti. Made from secret family recipe," she said and winked at me. I smiled back at her and thanked her for it.

-"No no, do not mention it, _stellina_," Gianna said and walked back into the kitchen, dragging Armando with her.

-"What was all that Italian, Caleb?" I asked curiously as we started to eat.

-"It was nothing, she just asked me a few things," he smiled so innocently that I didn't pester him anymore about the subject.

-"This is really good! Your grandmother is an amazing chef!" I told him as we ate the spaghetti.

-"Yeah, I agree," Caleb said and put another bite in his mouth.

The table we'd been seated in was in the right corner of the room, giving us a view of the dark street outside. All the tables had a red and white checked tablecloth and a candle on it; the only difference between ours and the others where that our candle was lit. The whole restaurant was dimly lit, giving it a very cosy and romantic atmosphere.

-"How come it's so empty? Shouldn't it be stocked full on a Saturday night?" I asked him curiously.

-"It usually is, but Alessandro's birthday was today so they decided to keep it closed. He celebrated last night and he's got a 'bit'of a hangover, to say the least," Caleb answered and chuckled. I giggled with him, and took a mouthful of the water Armando had given us earlier.

We joked and talked all night, until we heard a loud bang and a muffled scream from the kitchen. I jumped two feet in the air from the fright it gave me, and Caleb put a hand over my mouth to silence me.

My eyes widened with fear as he got up and started to slowly walk towards where the sound came from. It took me five seconds to get my act together and quickly and silently walked up behind him.

We heard more shuffling and banging and I could feel Caleb tense up. It was like there was some kind of electric charge between us; that told me how he felt. He must've noticed how scared I was, and grabbed my hand, squeezing it reassuringly, before he let it go and stormed into the kitchen. He yelled at someone, but the adrenaline; the fear running through my veins hindered me from comprehending what he said.

But then the sharp distinct sound I'd heard a one time too many, broke through my fear. Someone just fired a gun. The memory of watching my best friend's life drain out of her woke up the anger and sorrow in me, and I snapped.

I drew energy from every source I could, I felt the heat gather in my fingertips and I took a deep breath and walked slowly into the kitchen.

* * *

Yeah, I know Italian...Impressive, right?

Nah, I'm just kidding, I know next to nothing. I know Norwegian, English, some Spanish and some French, but no Italian. Therefore, please excuse me if I did any major mistakes and such, it wasn't ment to offence a language I really want to learn. And for all of you out there that know just as much Italian as I do, here are some translations:

_Svegliati, tu idiota = Wake up, you idiot_

_Do lei lo so Italiano?= Does she know Italian?_

_No nana = No grandma_

_Lei be attraente_ Caleb = She is attractive Caleb

_Io sapere, nana =_ I know grandma

Stellina = Little star (an endearing nickname)


	15. Oh really

Yeah, I suck at keeping promises, I know... Sorry! Really! But now on Thursday Christmas break starts and I'll probably be writing a lot more after that...

And yes, I LOVE cliffhangers... I can't help but keep my readers hanging...hehe...

I wish I'd get more reviews, really! I havent gotten ANY since chapter six, and thats discouraging, it really is....

R&R

-Via

* * *

Chapter 15: Oh really?

The scene in front of me as I entered the kitchen made my stomach churn and I felt the spaghetti threathen to make a reappearence.

Gianna was lying on the floor, blood seeping from her abdomen, with Armando holding a hand over the gash, desperately trying to stop the bloodstream.

Caleb was fighting two masked men at the same time, and I couldn't see Alessandro anywhere.

The eyes of the masked men lit up with fear as they saw my glowing figure enter the kitchen. Their few seconds of unfocus was all Caleb needed to knock out one of them. I pointed at the other and sent him a dazzling smile, before hitting him square in the jaw with a ball of energy.

He fell to the floor, twitching just like Sabretooth, and the other one was knocked out cold.

-"Caleb!" I said and ran over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck as I hugged him tightly. He hugged me even tighter back, and kissed the top of my head.

Gianna's moans of pain and Armando's desperate attemps to calm her, made me and Caleb release each other.

It hit me; I knew what to do; I could help Gianna. I ran over to her and Armando and kneeled on the floor beside her. I ripped a piece of my shirt of and wrapped it tightly around the gun wound to stop the bleeding.

-"Caleb, we have to get her to the hospital right now!" I yelled, and started to get her off of the floor. She was at that point unconscious, and Armando was completely freaking out.

Caleb picked her up in his strong arms and we ran out to the car.

-"Put her in the back seat, I'll take care of her 'til we get there!" I said and climbed into the car. Armando ran after us and got into the front seat, mumbling what sounded like Latin prayers.

As soon as we were all in the car, Caleb fired up the engine and drove as fast as possible to the closest hospital. He took all the right shortcuts and we arrived at the hospital only a few minutes later.

Caleb once again carried Gianna as we ran into the building with Armando running after. Gianna was rushed off to surgery and Caleb and I was left in the waiting room. Armando had been sent to the psychiatric ward, since he was, as previously mentioned, freaking out.

So there Caleb and I sat for an entire hour, waiting for news of his grandmother. We were holding hands and my head rested on his shoulder. Since I'd used parts of my shirt as bandage on Gianna, they'd given me a blanket and a hospital gown. I wore the gown over my jeans and wrapped the blanket around both myself and Caleb.

I'd curled up in the chair and Caleb had wrapped his arm around my shoulder. A few tears escaped my self-control and I tried to hide it, but hiding things from Caleb was close to impossible it would seem; he saw it at once.

-"Hey you, it's going to be okay," he said and released my hand and wiped a tear of my cheek with his thumb. 'Shouldn't I be the one to comfort him, and not the other way around? It's his grandmother in there, not mine,' I thought. A flash of worry fired through me and I tightened my grip on his hand.

-"She's been in there so long…." I answered, and buried my face in his chest. He held me as I cried, and I could feel a few tears of his own hit the back of my head.

_Two hours later:_

-"Are you Gianna De Luca's relatives?" a doctor asked us. We hadn't moved from our seats, afraid that the second we weren't there the doctor's would have news.

-"Yes," Caleb answered and straightened up.

-"Well, I have good news for you! Mrs. De Luca's surgery was successful, and she's going to be fine. We'd like to keep her here a few days, just as a precaution," the doctor said and smiled at us.

"Oh, and ms…?" he asked and nodded at me.

-"It's Hale, Amelia Hale," I answered in a shaky voice.

-"You probably saved Mrs. De Luca's life with that shirt of yours, hadn't it been for the fact that you stopped the bleeding she wouldn't have made it."

I smiled at Caleb, who was rubbing soothing circles on my back. He smiled back and gave me a hug. He muttered "thank you" over and over again in my hair, hugging me closer. I wrapped my arms around his neck and whispered back:

-"No Caleb, it was nothing. I'd give anything to save her; she's wonderful ". We held each other a few more seconds, before we let each other go.

-"When can we see her?" Caleb asked.

-"She's in recovery now, so in a few minutes I'd say," the doctor answered and motioned for us to follow him. Caleb stood and helped me up from the chair, wrapping the blanket around me in the process. He put his arm around my shoulder as we walked down the hall and I wrapped my arms around his waist.

We entered a room and saw Gianna lying on a bed with IV's sticking out from her arm. I shuddered and we walked over to her.

She stirred lightly as a chair scratched along the floor and she woke up.

-"_Ai, mi fa male la testa, ho mal di testa_," she said in an exasperhated voice.

-"Doctor, she says her head hurts," Caleb said worriedly.

-"Yes, that's the narcosis; it can give headaches as a side affect. It should surpass quickly," the doctor replied before leaving us with Gianna.

-"_Mi bello_ Caleb, where is your grandfather?" she asked as she looked around her.

-"He'll be here soon, he had a small meltdown," Caleb answered calmly and took one of her hands.

-"And where is the _stellina_? I saw her shine like an angel before everything went black; she truly is a _stellina_," Gianna continued. She must've done a quick improvement, by now she'd pressed a few buttons on a remote and her bed was straightening up so she could semi-sit.

-"I'm here, Gianna," I answered and emerged from behind Caleb. She smiled at me, and motioned for me to come closer. She gave me a hug and thanked me for saving her life. Apparently, the doctors had told her that story too.

-"Really Gianna, it's nothing," I said as she let me go.

-"Nothing? Amelia,_ stellina_, you saved my life!" the woman exclaimed. I smiled at her, giving in. No need to get the poor woman worked up in this state.

-"I'll go find a nurse and ask where grandfather is," Caleb told us and walked out of the room.

-"Amelia, do we know where Alessandro is?" Gianna asked me.

-"No, we haven't seen him since before dinner"

-"Mhm… There were four of them; he probably went after the one who got away"

-"Do you know what they wanted?"

-"Money. It's always money. I think it was just a simple robbery, but they didn't expect that they were trying to steal from a restaurant filled with mutants," Gianna answered and laughed.

-"Are you all…?" I asked and sat down on the chair next to her bed.

-"Yes. Well, Alessandro and I are, Armando is not. Caleb's mother, my daughter, is one as well. The gene is powerful in our family."

I nodded and started fidgeting nervously with my fingers for some reason.

-"Amelia, do you know why I call you stellina?" Gianna asked after a minute of silence. I shook my head and looked at her curiously.

-"Stellina means little star in Italian. I've never seen Caleb this way before, he is happier then he's been in a long time. He was very close to his uncle, although he was only nine years old when he died; Caleb took it very hard, almost as hard as Alessandro did.

But when Caleb is with you, he's changed. Like you are the star in the horizon; the one he has to follow to find his way home. You are like a little star to him, even though he might not see it himself just how different he is, yet," Gianna told me in her Italian accented warm loving voice.

I felt tears prick in my eyes and they also made an appearance on Gianna.

-"I can't wait to get to know you, Amelia. If you make such a difference on Caleb, you must really be something special," she said. I stood and gave her a hug. She wrapped her thin arms around me and hugged me back.

Caleb walked in the doorway but didn't say anything to interrupt the moment. Armando appeared and laughed triumphantly when he saw that his wife was indeed awake and well. Gianna and I let each other go so that Armando could take over.

I walked over to Caleb and looked at the scene: Armando was sitting in the chair I'd previously occupied, and held Gianna's hand, stroking strands of hair behind her ear. It was the most affectionate things I'd ever seen.

-"Let's go home," Caleb whispered in my ear. I looked up at him and nodded.

-"We'll head back to the institute, I expect Kitty to throw a fit over us being late with her clothes, so might as well face her now then later," Caleb said to the elderly pair in front of us. Gianna winked and smiled at me, and Armando got up and gave me a hug goodbye.

Caleb and I walked out of the hospital to where his car stood and headed back.

-"Are you okay, Amelia? It seemed like you were about to cry when I walked in earlier," Caleb asked me, worry splayed across his face.

-"Yeah, I'm fine. Your grandmother is just so loving, she made me a bit overemotional," I answered and brushed it off.

-"Oh really?" Caleb responded in a questioning voice and laughed.

* * *

I know it's moving quite fast with our young lovers here, but in order to keep the story going it sort of has to. But don't worry, there will still be some surprises ahead, as well as fluff AND drama! And let's not forget the action and torment that comes with....? Haha...Now you can wonder.... Tell me what you think is going to happen in a review or a pm, and I'll give you a sneek peek into the future!

R&R!

Loves,

-Via


	16. What he hell

You guys better love me! I think I'm being pretty good here!

* * *

Chapter 16: What the hell?

Caleb was right; when we came back to the school Kitty was throwing fits, yelling for Kurt to give her he phone back so she could call Caleb "and get his butt back here with her clothes".

But when she saw us she froze and stared at us with big eyes. Kurt fell down from a chandelier and landed on top of Lance who was lounging in the staircase. A young boy tripped in the carpet and all of a sudden ten-fifteen duplicates popped out of him, all with the same expression of shock as he saw the state of Caleb and I.

The whole scenario made me and Caleb laugh while the others stared at us.

-"What the hell happened to you guys?" Lance asked as he pushed a disheveled Nightcrawler of him and down on to the floor.

-"Well, we stopped by Lucca to get some dinner, and then a few stupid jackasses decided to rob the register at the restaurant and there was a fight and grandma got shot, so we had to get her to the hospital, and that's about it," Caleb said and scratched the back of his head.

I took his hand and squeezed it lightly behind my back, but that action caused the blanket to shift and reveal the hospital gown I was wearing. We heard Kitty gasp loudly and I let go of Caleb's hand, thinking that that was the reason for her outburst.

-"AMELIA! What happened to you!" Kitty yelled, causing a group of curious students to appear from the kitchen.

-"Um… Gianna was bleeding so much, so I kinda ripped up my shirt to use it as a bandage. And no worries, I changed out of your dress before we went to the restaurant," I said with my hands raised in front of me, prepared to protect me from the wrath of Kit-Kat.

Lance and Kurt tensed up and Kitty ran towards me and gave me a hug.

-"Like, oh my god! Are everyone totally, like, okay?" she asked worriedly and let me go.

-"Yeah, grandma is fine, grandpa is… fine, I'm fine, everyone is fine."

-"What about Alessandro? Where's he at?" Lance asked.

-"He took off after the God-damn burglars, I don't know where he is". I felt Caleb's fist tighten against my lower back as he spoke. I could feel his worry for his cousin, his anger. I felt it pulsating from his body and hit mine like warm water filled with emotion. I took his hand again and squeezed it gently, telling him without words that I was there for him.

He looked down at me and smiled slightly, his feelings apparent to me.

Without moving his eyes from mine, he said:

-"Kitty, could you get Amelia to her room?"

I stared back at him, confusion quickly followed by dread and then understanding crossed over my face.

-"Can I talk to you for a second?" I asked, my voice a bit strained as I tried to keep myself as calm and collected as possible. He nodded and let me lead him outside.


End file.
